Monsters After Dusk
by ScribeOfRhapsody
Summary: In which Dr. Hill is big on social support networks and everyone is STILL in the hospital. (Sequel to Playing Hero and Settlers of Dawn.) Actual Vegan Psycho in this one. FINALLY.
1. Monsters After Dusk

**I try to write funny, it ends up angsty in the end. I try to write angsty, and it ends up a weird combo of angst and humor…**

 **So, this was originally supposed to be a one-shot called** _ **Monsters After Dark**_ **. Now, that's the name of the first chapter AND the fic and there are going to be three more chapters to come. Oops? Well, now you know why this took so long.**

* * *

 _Claws raked across his left shoulder, sending him to the ground with no chance to smother his cry of pain. He gritted his teeth, rolling onto his back as he gripped the hilt of his machete._

 _Too late._

 _The Wendigo was on him, pressing him harshly into the scratchy, broken wood of the floor. The creature's hot, rancid breath filled his lungs as its sharp and rotting teeth hovered over his throat._

 _Josh didn't try to stop the whimper that left his mouth, fear paralyzing him to the point he couldn't close his eyes._

" _Josh!"_

 _Sam. Somehow, even with the Wendigo in his face, he could see her perfectly. Like the camera in a movie, switching from character to character. He could see every detail about her: the gashes on her neck, the smear of dirt on her cheek, the scarlet scratches streaking her forearms, and her kind green eyes tight with concern._

 _She had to live – no matter what. "Just go, Sammy! Hit the switch!"_

 _She hesitated, but only for a moment, and then her face steeled. She ran for the door._

 _But she was too far away. The second Wendigo leaped in front of her, cutting her off._

 _No. No, no, no, no!_

 _The monster grabbed her throat, its elongated, bony fingers closing around her face._

" _Sam!" Josh screamed, bucking and flailing around in an attempt to get to her. No use. The Wendigo on top of him kept him pressed to the floor._

 _The Wendigo that had Sam drove its other hand straight through her stomach. An agonized scream ripped from her mouth, blood pouring out over her lips. A few weak, strangled gasps lingered in Josh's ears as her eyes flickered around, searching in vain for an escape before they stilled, the spark of life leaving them._

 _The Wendigo pulled its arm back, dropping her body onto the carpet with a sickening, muted thud._

 _Josh was howling. He wasn't even sure what he was saying, but kept bellowing all the same, violently thrashing against the Wendigo's hold until one of its claws finally released him, only to draw back for its killing strike._

 _All Josh could see in his final moments was the way Sam's blood was splattered over her cheerfully manicured nails, and then the claws descended–_

"Josh! Josh, it's not real! Come on, wake up!"

The Wendigo's claws melted away into shadows and white moonlight. Shadows. He _hated_ shadows. Everything that haunted him skulked and plotted in shadows – waiting to prey on his fear.

His throat was clogged with a familiar, grinding pain. He was screaming. Screaming and thrashing around, trying to find something to lock onto other than the darkness and terror of what he'd just seen. Sam's lifeless eyes were seared into his mind.

"Sam! _Sam!_ "

"Josh! _Josh,_ it's okay – I'm here!"

Josh honed in on the source of the voice, his screams dissolving into sobs. "Sammy?"

Sam – safe, _alive_ Sam – was leaning over his hospital bed, her hands on his shoulders. "Yes, it's me. I'm here, okay?"

Josh wriggled out from beneath her hands and threw his arms around her, pulling her as tightly to his chest as he could with his trembling limbs. "You're okay… you're okay… you're okay…"

"Shhh…" Sam hugged him back, running a hand through the back of his unbrushed hair. "I'm safe. We're all safe. It's all over."

Josh sucked in several shaky breaths, his nose tingling at the lavender-like sent on Sam's skin. It was unfamiliar and not-Sam– Sam had always loved that peachy-vanilla soap Hannah had given her as part of a Christmas present one year, not lavender. Hotel soap. Gross.

Josh buried his head in her shoulder all the same, focusing on the strong pulse of her still-beating heart.

The door of the room creaked. "Everything all right in here?"

Josh didn't recognize the voice. Probably the night nurse.

Sam gently pulled away from his embrace, but kept a hand on his arm. "Yeah, we're fine. Could you just get the light, maybe?"

Josh scrunched his eyes shut at the assault that set his retinas ablaze, but the darkness just reminded him of that eternal night, and he quickly opened them again. The blur that was the nurse turned the knob on the lights, lowering them to a less offensive level.

"Thank you," Sam said.

"Sure thing, sweetheart. Would you like me to check and see if he can have anything to help him sleep?"

"No!" Josh snapped before toning down his harshness. None of this was the poor nurse's fault. "No… thank you. I… I'm not going back to sleep any time soon…"

The nurse gave a sympathetic nod and ducked back into the hallway, closing the door softly behind her.

Josh flopped back against his pillow, his heart rate still elevated, but not slamming against his ribcage like it had when he'd first woken up. He lay his hand over the one Sam had on his arm and gave a light squeeze. "Thanks."

Sam gave a soft 'hmm' as she searched his face for… something. "I've been having nightmares too. Probably gotten about six hours of sleep total in the last three nights."

For the first time, he noticed just how pale she was compared to normal. His tongue felt like a lump of metal encased in cotton. "How many of them were about me?"

Sam didn't seem fazed. "Well… a Wendigo _did_ attack me in the bathroom once, but you didn't make any actual appearances. Guess you just aren't as terrifying as flesh-eating monsters. Sorry to burst your bubble."

Humor defense. Ha. _Sorry, Sammy, but I know that one all too well._ "Why are you still here this late?" Josh glanced at the clock above the door. 2:28? Geez. How long had Sam been in here while he was asleep? Last he remembered, she and Dr. Hill were having some discussion about healthy dietary habits. No wonder he'd passed out.

Sam shrugged. "No point in Dr. Hill staying on a couch in here when I was already going to be up most of the night. I convinced him to go back to his hotel until morning."

Josh had a sneaking suspicion that Dr. Hill had an ulterior motive in mind that had nothing to do with sleep when he agreed to that. He'd always been big on social support networks, and he _knew_ Sam had helped Josh more than anything else in the past year. Not that Josh was complaining. There were a lot of people he'd like being left alone with much less. But… "You've been on that awful couch all night?"

"Not sure I'd consider two in the morning as 'all night,' but yeah. It's really not that bad."

"Hm." Josh's eyelids were heavy with the need for more rest, but he stubbornly kept them open.

"You sure you don't want to try and get some more sleep?"

Josh gave her deadpan glare. "Do _you?_ "

"No." She shook her head, her unfixed bangs dangling in her face. He wondered how vivid her dreams were – how vivid the nightmares of normal people were in general. They must have been pretty bad because Sam looked about five times worse than she had earlier.

Earlier. Ha. Just a few hours ago, they'd all been having fun. Funny how things changed in such a short amount of time. Josh couldn't help but wonder if last night was the last time he'd ever really be hanging out with his friends. Yeah, they'd talked about getting together and having a _Star Trek_ marathon, but would any of them actually want to? How different would everyone feel when they were back home?

"Stop it," Sam scolded.

"Stop what?" He wasn't even doing anything.

"Thinking such miserable thoughts."

"How do _you_ know what I'm thinking?" Despite what it seemed like sometimes, Josh knew Sam could not read minds – if she could, somehow he doubted his prank would have gotten past the early planning stages, so there was his proof.

"Because. You get this sweet little wrinkle here whenever you're wallowing in worry." She prodded his forehead with her pointer finger.

He scowled, probably causing the exact wrinkle she was talking about to deepen. " _Sweet?_ "

" _Well._ " She tilted her head. "I'd be willing to stretch as far as cute, maybe."

"Oh, I'm cute, am I?" It was so easy to fall back into their old routine of playful banter.

"Ehhh, sometimes. Have to look from very select angles to see it."

Josh let a chuckle slip out. Yeah, Sam was probably just doing this to lull him back into some sense of normality, but at the moment, he didn't care. It was nice to pretend for a bit. "Aw, thank you, Sammy. Did you know, in this lighting, you're _almost_ pretty?" Liar. _Almost pretty._ As if. Yeah, maybe he was a little biased, but Sam was easily the prettiest girl he knew.

"Ooh, you know just how to compliment a girl, Washington!" Sam slapped her hand over her heart. "Consider me charmed!"

Before tonight, he probably could have spouted what he really thought about her a thousand times, but now the words he wanted to say sounded like a sappy holiday card to his own ears, so he stuck with sarcasm. Real compliments weren't his thing. Sincerity in general wasn't really his thing. Even before he'd donned his carefully crafted psycho persona, he was always wearing a mask. Before Beth and Hannah went missing, it was the ' _I'm just like everybody else'_ mask. After, it was the _'I'm okay'_ mask. Now he was just… peering through the fragments of a mask that had so many cracks he didn't even know what it was supposed to be anymore. He wasn't really sure what to make of it. Not sure what to feel. _Raw,_ he supposed. That was the first word that came to mind. Raw and exposed, like when the Wendigo had pinned him to the ground and held its teeth over his neck. Only, instead of teeth about to tear into him, it was friends – hovering, waiting for the best time to strike.

No… they wouldn't do that, would they? They'd all been… surprisingly supportive. But that was what scared him – they were being _too_ understanding after everything that had happened. They _should_ have been yelling at him.

"You're doing it again." She poked his forehead a second time.

Josh swatted her hand away halfheartedly. "Kinda hard to be optimistic right now, Sammy." He licked his lips – still torn and chapped despite his constant IV companion. "I… I can't get her out of my head, Sam. What she must have suffered through." His breath hitched. "Down in that hell, all alone. For a whole damn _month_." Isolated. In the dark. No end in sight. Her only hope a rescue that never came. Beth had been the lucky one.

Tears slipped slowly down his cheeks, and he couldn't find the energy or will to wipe them away.

"I know." Sam's choked-up speech drew his attention to the fact she was tearing up too. "It's been pretty much all I've been able to think about. All that time wondering what happened to them…" She bit her lip, giving it a tug as she blinked rapidly. "I thought… I kept thinking things would be better if we just knew what had happened." She shook her head. "It just made things worse."

This all felt so familiar… Just him and Sam, leaning on each other – more him on her than the other way around, if he was honest. So much like last year, only without his rage to keep him going. Nowhere to channel his pain.

Sam grabbed his hand tightly. "But they wouldn't have wanted us to give up, Josh. The last thing they'd want is for us to be in pain because of them."

It wasn't the first time she'd said something along those lines, but he'd been too consumed by grief and anger to listen before. What would Hannah and Beth have wanted? Josh had lost track of what his sisters _really_ would have wanted a long time ago. Their wants had been distorted by his mind's twisted projection of them. They were cruel and cold, so unlike the inseparable bodies of light he'd grown up with.

"I can't push away that pain," Josh rolled his head back so he was staring at the ceiling. "I miss them so much…"

"I know. I do too."

Silence fell between them for a few moments, and then Sam's weight shifted on the bed. Josh startled as Sam laid her head on his chest, but then his arms instinctively wrapped around her smaller form. He tucked his chin down press his nose into her hair. She had a different shampoo than usual too, but now that he was close enough, her natural scent was bleeding through and she still smelled distinctly Sam-like.

"What are we going to do, Sammy?" he murmured.

"I don't know," Sam sighed, sounding sleepy. "But we _will_ figure it out."

When he finally fell back asleep, he didn't have any nightmares.

* * *

 **Next up:**

 **More Vegan Psycho and a visit from Jessica.**

 **ALSO. GUESS WHAT GUYS. I'M IN THE TOP 15 OF THE WRITING COMPETITION I ENTERED WITH MY ORIGINAL WORK. THEY'RE COUNTING DOWN THE TOP 10 OVER THE NEXT TEN DAYS. I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHERE I END UP. :D**

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 **...If anyone wants to read or help me get the Reader's Choice award, I won't protest... (Third one from the top is mine.)  
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 **shortfictionbreak (.c) om / 2016 /0 1 /3 1/t he - becoming - writer -con tes t-w inn er s/**

 **...The lead character IS partially inspired by Josh, if that helps. ;)**


	2. Pictures of Popcorn

When Josh's eyes drifted open again, he felt oddly at peace. The weight of Sam's head on his chest was a comfort he couldn't find words to describe. He smiled faintly, trailing a hand through her messy ponytail. She looked so small and vulnerable like this. Was that how he'd seemed to her over the past year?

He kept stroking his hand through her hair as she slept like a log – no, not a log, a _rock_. This was the most peaceful he'd felt in a long time, and he certainly didn't have anything better to do.

There was a light knock on the closed door, and Josh was torn between answering whoever was there and staying quiet. He didn't want to ignore whoever was trying to visit, but if he answered, his voice was bound to wake Sam.

The door handle turned slowly, and the door opened a crack. One blue eye peeked in. Josh beckoned the person inside, squinting to try and figure out who it was because, while he hadn't exactly checked, he was pretty sure Chris didn't have eyelashes like those. Who else in their group had blue eyes?

Jess entered the room quietly, closing the door behind her before she turned to face Josh.

Normally, it would have been shocking and awful to see the stitches running down the left side of her face and across the bridge of her nose, but after seeing those wounds when they were fresh, stitches were honestly a relief – even if they still made him want to throw up. There was no way those wounds were going to heal without leaving some kind of scars.

He swallowed as if that could physically shove the guilt back. Sam may have been more his type, but there was no denying Jess had been one of the most gorgeous girls in their high school. She'd always wanted to be a model. Even if it was unintentional, he'd murdered that dream.

Jess clasped her hands in front of her. "Hey."

Geez. Maybe it was just because Sam was sleeping, but Jess had never seemed so quiet or subdued before. She was usually… bubbly. Always had been. Ever with the perky attitude and spring in her step.

"Hey," Josh returned, unsure what else he should or could say. He and Jess had never been particularly close _before_ she'd come up with the prank that had gotten his sisters killed, but right now he kind of figured they were on even ground in that regard.

"How are you doing?"

Josh tried to shrug and instantly regretted it when his shoulder twinged. Ow. Speaking of scars, there was no way those claw marks were healing all the way. "About as well as can be expected. You?"

Jess fidgeted. "About the same, I guess." Her eyes locked onto Sam, and a spark of her usual personally lit in them. "What's going on here?"

Really? Their first conversation since they were almost eaten together, and _this_ was she wanted to talk about? Well, maybe talking about something more normal would help them both.

He was about to shrug again, but caught himself in time. "I… have no idea."

She giggled quietly. "I lost a bet with Emily about you two."

Wait, what? Chris and Ashley were always the targets of teasing and bets, not him and Sam. …Or so he'd thought? "You did? When was that?"

"You remember that time we all went to see a movie and you spilled your soda on Hannah by accident and ruined her shirt? And Sam got revenge for her by dumping that entire bucket of popcorn over your head?"

Josh bit his lip to smother a laugh so he wouldn't wake Sam. "How could I forget?" That had been hilarious, despite him being the victim. He remembered nothing about the actual movie since he'd missed over half of it while squirming in his seat as he tried to pick all the popcorn out of his shirt. And he'd paid for that popcorn too. Rude. He'd also driven Beth and Matt batty for the full two hours of the film since he'd been sitting between them. Good times.

Jess nodded. "Yeah, I made a bet with Emily during the movie."

Right. Back when Emily and Mike were still dating and Emily and Jess hadn't yet exchanged their BFF card in for the Mortal Enemies one.

"Just because Sam dumped _my_ bucket of popcorn on my head?"

"Well, you didn't seem to mind too much." She grinned. "Besides – the best friend and the sibling? That's one of the oldest ones in the book!"

"Pffft," Josh scoffed. "Am I forgetting the time Chris had a thing for Hannah?" It still hurt to say her name, but maybe… just maybe he could pretend it was okay for Jess' sake. He owed her that much.

"No, he had a crush on Beth."

Whoa, whoa, whoa, _what?_ " _Excuse_ me?" She was messing with him, right? She had to be.

Jess' eyebrows shot up. "You never knew? Sam said he told her once. It was super short-lived. Right before he met Ashley."

Seriously? _Ooohh, wait…_ He bet he knew what triggered that: Beth punching that guy who had made fun of Chris' glasses. That had happened about a week before Chris met Ashley, and from then on, he'd only had eyes for her. Still, _really?_ Even if it had only been for a week, he'd never suspected a thing.

"My life has been a lie," Josh said flatly.

Jessica giggled.

Josh held his smile for a moment before letting it fall. "You're leaving, aren't you? That's why you're here?" No point in beating around the bush any longer.

Her own smile faded over the next few moments. "Yeah. I… wasn't exactly around for most of what happened, so the police are letting me go first."

Wait, the police were keeping everyone else here? No wonder they were all still hovering here.

Jess stared at her feet. "I wanted to stay… for Mike, but my parents want to get me home. Back to… normal things." She barked out a humorless laugh that was very un-Jess. "I don't even know how to start going back to _normal_."

Josh ' _hmm_ 'ed in agreement. Normal. The idea seemed foreign.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing before I left."

When had he ever heard Jess this sincere? Never. She'd never even apologized for her part in the prank. She'd just kind of… avoided him. Understandable. He wanted to avoid the people he'd hurt too – that didn't mean he had no remorse.

"And… I wanted to thank you." She finally looked up to meet his eyes again. "I know… you probably had something pretty unpleasant planned for me and Mike with that prank, but it didn't happen, and you saved our lives. So… thank you. And… I'm sorry." Her voice cracked suddenly, and she blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill over. "The prank – the original one – it was all my idea, and I… _I'm so sorry!_ " She tore out the hospital door, sobbing.

Josh was too stunned to call after her.

"Well, that was different for her."

Josh nearly jumped out of his skin. " _Sam!_ " Josh laid his free hand on his chest, awkwardly close to where Sam was pressed against him. "Do not do that to my poor heart!"

Sam chuckled, the lighting in the room casting a warm glow across her skin and tousled hair. Maybe it was just another testament to how screwed up his mind was, but she looked just as beautiful as ever, even with scratches littering her face.

Wait a second… "How long have you been awake?"

"Since popcorn." She yawned. "That was a fun night."

"Says the girl who didn't spend the whole night picking popcorn out of her underwear."

Sam laughed – _damn,_ he loved that sound – smacking him in the chest with her fist. "It was not in your underwear, you drama queen! Actually, if I remember correctly, most of it was in your hair."

"Pretty sure it was in my clothes."

"I have proof."

"Oh, do you now?

Sam shifted around, laying the back of her head against his chest as she fished her phone out of her pocket. Josh brushed the stray strands from her messy ponytail out of his face and peered at the screen. She quickly scrolled through the photos from last year since there weren't very many, but after she got back to before Hannah and Beth went missing, there were so, _so_ many more.

"Ah-ha!" Sam cheered, tapping one of photos to enlarge it.

Josh spluttered out a laugh. Okay, seeing himself trying to glare intimidatingly at Sam with a quarter of a bucket of popcorn stuck in his hair _was_ pretty amusing. But… what was even better was how Hannah stood behind him, a hand clapped over her mouth and laughter in her eyes. And Beth? She wasn't even _trying_ to be subtle – she was _doubled over_ in laughter. "Who took this?" Obviously, Sam hadn't because she was off to the side, looking proud of herself as she held the empty popcorn bucket.

"Chris."

Ah, of course. Mr. Technology.

Josh reached out with two fingers and zoomed in on Hannah and Beth's portion of the photo. _This_ was how he wanted to remember them – not as those awful monstrosities his mind conjured up. Or the _real_ monstrosity Hannah became.

"Do you have a lot of pictures in here of them?"

Sam nodded, her hair fluffing into his face again. He blew it out the way with a puff of air, resisting the urge to run his hand through those blonde tresses like he wanted to. "Show me?"

Her fingers hovered over the screen. "You really want to?"

"Yeah."

Sam didn't do selfies at the drop of a hat like other people around their age, so the pictures she did have were taken on special or fun occasions, or taken by someone else and sent to her. There were so many memories to smile at: Sam and Hannah on some hike, Hannah caught mid-duck with her hands up in defense as Beth lobbed a bundled-up sock a her, all three of them at some water park – if he was honest, his attention was _not_ on his sisters in that picture. Oh, and – one of his personal favorites – one with Chris and Ashley in the background while Beth held up a napkin that had ' _just kiss already'_ scrawled on it. Her exasperated face made it even better.

Josh and Sam were both wheezing with laughter when someone knocked on the door again. Josh couldn't catch his breath enough to answer, but Sam called, "Come in!"

Mike crept in, glancing over his shoulder like he was trying not to get caught… which he probably was considering he still wasn't supposed to be out of his room. He raised an eyebrow at them. "Well, you two seem jovial."

"Mike." Josh beckoned him over. "You gotta see some of these!"

Mike dragged a chair over so he could huddle around the small screen too. It wasn't long before he was clutching his injured chest as he laughed with them.

And that was how Chris found the three them a few minutes later. And that was how Dr. Hill found the four of them a few minutes after that.

Josh took his eyes away from the screen for a bit, turning his gaze instead to the people who –even after everything – were still willing to call him a friend. Mike's black eye was still a deep purple, Chris was teetering on his uninjured leg, and Sam's fingers were scraped-up as she scrolled through the pictures.

They were all damaged in one way or another, but they were healing. Maybe it would take more time for the others – where could he even _start_ with rebuilding his relationship with Ashley? – and things would never be the way they were, but… just maybe they weren't broken beyond repair.

Josh made a mental note to message Jessica as soon as he got ahold of a phone. And Matt. And buy something nice for Emily to subdue the beast's anger. And… pay for Ashley's college. And her and Chris' wedding. And their house. And a puppy. And he was going to spoil their children rotten. If she didn't a have a restraining order filed by the time he was out of the hospital, that was.

Where was this train of thought originally going? Oh yeah.

Mike… well, considering he'd dragged Mike out of a cave and then saved him from a Wendigo, Josh figured they were even.

As for Sam? There was honestly nothing he could ever do to repay her.

* * *

 **Next up:**

 **In which Josh will get the chance to try and smooth things over with Emily. Haha.**


	3. Beware the Dragon (Lady)

Eventually, the police started letting more people go. Ashley was the next to leave after Jessica, her parents dragging her home even though she wanted to stay with Chris – or so Josh heard since all of this had been relayed from Sam. Ashley didn't drop in to say goodbye. Not that he'd expected her to.

Josh couldn't say he was entirely surprised when Matt popped in for a visit, but he hadn't been expecting him either. Emily was with him, but she lingered in the hallway, probably assuming she was out of sight.

"Hey, guys." Matt glanced around awkwardly at everyone else in the room, his gaze pausing briefly on Dr. Hill.

Oh, boy. Once again, Matt was way out of the loop. Jess was too, but she had her own troubles to deal with. Matt… he was the only other one who hadn't seen Josh at his worst. That was weird to think about. Josh had kind of been getting used to the fact that all his friends saw _'I need serious help'_ written on his forehead. But all Matt had seen was him helping lug around Mike and Jess and then running off into the woods with a Wendigo on his tail. Yeah, he'd _heard_ about what happened, but seeing it was an entirely different thing.

"Hey, Matt," Chris greeted. "How's Emily?"

"Still angry." Matt winced, shooting Mike a look.

Yikes. Josh was happy to _not_ be Mike right now. Hey, wait… Someone was actually mad at someone other than him. Ha. That was nice. Not that he knew why, though. No one seemed to want to go into detail on what had happened between the two of them. And he wished they would because, frankly, he was _really_ _damn curious_.

Mike leaned so he could see out the partially closed door. "What do you want me to do, Em? I've said I'm sorry a thousand times!"

What the– Mike was apologizing? Mike always defended himself, even when he didn't have a real argument. Right now he just looked… tired. What the hell had he done to make things this bad between them?

"And it'll never be enough, you asshole!" Emily stalked into the room, throwing the door the rest of the way open. She jabbed a finger at Josh. "This lunatic had more justification for what he did than you!"

Um, thanks? Josh wasn't quite sure how to take that. "Good to know we're still friends, Em…"

"Shove it, nutcase! I'm not talking to you!"

"Emily!" Chris shot out of his chair. "Not cool!"

"Oh, you don't have any room to speak either!" Emily stepped over to him, looking surprisingly intimidating for her height. "You just sat there!"

Josh pressed his thumbs to his tear ducts. He was fine with people yelling at him – he deserved it – but seeing the the group bicker with each other over something he didn't even know the details about was a load of stress he didn't need.

"Hey, Em, lay off! I'm the one you're mad at, not Chris!" And now Mike was standing too.

"Yeah, well, from what I heard, he didn't exactly help…" Matt muttered.

"Come on, Matt, that's not fair." And there went Sam… "We were all scared and under a lot of pressure–"

"Didn't keep _you_ from having common sense!" Emily snapped. Wait… so Emily still liked Sam? Yay? "They were just being a bunch of paranoid idiots–"

" _Excuse me._ " Dr. Hill silenced everyone, standing from his chair.

Oh, _crap_ , that was terrifying. When had he gotten so tall? He was supposed to be the nice old therapist guy. Maybe his hallucinations were more accurate than he'd realized.

"Perhaps you would all like to lower your voices and discuss this civilly? If not, could you kindly take this outside?"

Ohhh, _snap_.

 _Therapist: 1. Bickering Teenagers: 0._

Mike, Matt, Sam, and Chris had the decency to look ashamed – even if some of them hadn't really done anything wrong – but Emily just scowled. "Who are you? And who the hell made you king the world, jackass?"

"Hey, you watch your mouth, Emily!" Josh sat up straight, glaring at her. Nobody gave his badass therapist lip but him. Well, probably his other patients too, but Josh couldn't do anything about them.

"Or _what?_ " Emily's fury turned on him in an instant, and she crossed her arms. "You gonna tie me up and saw me in half?"

"Emily!" Matt protested.

"Would anyone here actually mind that at the moment?"

Chris face-palmed. "Josh. _Dude._ Not helping!"

" _Enough._ " Dr. Hill pressed. "If you are all going to choose to behave like wild animals, I believe there's a park close by in which you can bicker until you freeze to death. _This_ is a place of healing." He dragged his chair over closer to the bed and then moved the one Mike had been sitting in to rest beside it. "Michael, Samantha, Christopher – you may leave. You two" – he jabbed a figure in at Emily and Matt – "sit."

 _Therapist: 2. Bickering Teenagers: 0._

"Yessir!" Chris scampered out of the room as quickly as he could with his still-healing ankle, and Mike trailed behind him. Sam hesitated at Josh's side, but he gave her a nod, and she left too.

"Um, so, wait… Who are you?" Matt asked.

"He's my therapist." Josh rubbed his forehead. Why did he think this was not going to go well?

" _Your_ therapist?" Emily snorted. "Wow, well you've clearly been doing a _fantastic_ job. You gonna pull out some cards with ink spattered on them and ask us how they make us feel?"

Oh, dang.

 _Therapist: 2. Dragon Lady: 1._

Dr. Hill gave her a patronizing smile. "And you've clearly gotten your education on therapy from Hollywood. _Sit,_ please."

Ohhhhh, burn.

 _Therapist: 3. Dragon Lady: 1._

Josh let out a short, demented laugh. "It is adorable how you keep thinking sarcasm is going to work on him. Believe me, it won't. I've tried."

Matt sat down, but Emily kept glaring.

Josh sighed heavily. "Emily, sit in the damn chair. You'll just be here even longer if you don't."

Emily kept her arms crossed and her glare steady as she finally sat down. "Is it even legal for you to start trying to counsel us?"

Josh wanted to strangle something. "For the love… Em, what are you going do? Sue him?"

"I _could_."

"Yeah, well, then I'd hire a lawyer for him and you'd lose."

Emily scoffed. "I'm not exactly poor, honey."

"You are compared to my family, _honey._ "

Matt groaned, dropping his head into his hands. "Can you guys just… not?"

Dr. Hill cleared his throat loud enough to draw their attention back to him. "Emily, I would like to ask you simple question: how much of your anger is actually directed at Joshua for his actions?"

Emily's lips pressed into a firm line for few seconds. "Come to think of it, not all that much. His prank only got to those two lovesick idiots who I _am_ mad at." A glint suddenly lit in her eyes, and Josh was honestly more than a little terrified. "Maybe I can enlist you to get back at Mike too."

"Em!" Matt protested. " _Seriously?_ "

Josh was starting to think maybe he wasn't the only one in the group who needed help. "Okay, seriously, what the hell did Mike _do?_ "

"The prick almost _shot me!_ " Annnd she was yelling again.

Almost? As in… accidentally, right?

"He held that damn gun right in front of my face!"

Or not. "…Why?"

She rolled her eyes, uncrossing her arms to gesture at her right shoulder. "I got bit by a Wendigo and the idiot jumped to the conclusion that I was going to turn into one."

O…kay. That made sense for both sides, he supposed. "And you're mad at Ash and Chris because…?" Right after he'd posed the question he realized that this was probably the first time Dr. Hill had heard about the Wendigos. Oh, boy. He was going to think they were _all_ a bunch of fruitcakes.

"They didn't try to stop him! They encouraged him!"

That didn't sound like Chris and Ashley at all. But… fear did strange things to people, he was learning. Apparently, it made him make a bunch of self-endangering decisions to save people who possibly hated him. And it made Sam into a resourceful _non_ -pacifist. And Mike into Nathan Drake. And as for Chris? He'd pulled the trigger on a gun pressed to his head to save the girl he loved. Why the hell would he later encourage Mike to shoot Emily? It didn't add up. Was Emily bending the story? Exaggerating? Or… was Chris trying to protect Ashley? Would he go that far? Side with Mike in regards to shooting Emily if he thought she was putting Ashley in danger? Josh honestly wasn't sure.

Josh shuffled under Emily furious gaze. "Well… um… I wasn't there, and I'm really not in a position to be judging _anyone_ , so… Switzerland."

Anger shifted to confusion. "What?"

"You know? Neutral?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, fine, whatever."

Silence. Awkward.

Matt toyed with the armrest of his chair. "Sooo, you guys are good, right?"

Emily grunted, standing. "He annoys me a lot less than some other people right now."

Aw. That was… probably the nicest thing she'd ever said to him. "Right, sure."

Dr. Hill looked pleased enough. Yay.

Matt stood up too, stretching out his hand. "Hey, man, thanks again for saving my ass out there. Em and I have got a plane to catch. Whatever it is you got going on with you, I hope you get it figured out soon. Good luck, and I'll see you back home."

"Thanks, Matt." Josh shook his hand.

So… talk with Emily and Matt. Check and check.

"Matt, come on already." Emily moved over to the door and grabbed the handle. "He's got a therapist to help him deal with his craziness–"

Whatever was on the other side of that door, it was enough to shut Emily up. Huh. Scary thought.

Emily cleared her throat. "Mr. and Mrs. Washington…"

Josh's heart somehow managed to simultaneously rise and drop. "Mom? Dad?"

"Joshua!"

Josh got more than a little amused when his mother almost plowed through Emily to get to him. Matt's football reflexes served him well and he dodged out of the way, leaving Josh to be enveloped in a bone-crushing hug.

His left shoulder flared in pain under the pressure, but he endured it and pressed his forehead into her neck, much like he had done with Sam the night before. It was a different kind of comfort, but one he clung to all the same.

Dr. Hill said something quietly to his father and the door clicked shut a few moments later, three sets of footsteps fading with distance. Just him and his parents then.

Josh sniffled. No, he was not crying – it was the angle that his nose was pressing into his mother's collarbone. _That_ was what was making his eyes water. Definitely.

He still had no idea what to tell them. He wished Sam or Chris were here to at least back him up on the Wendigos. Without them, there was no way his parents would believe those things existed. Hell, _with_ Sam and Chris here, his parents still probably wouldn't believe the Wendigos existed, and he wouldn't blame them. That night was crazier than he was, and that was saying something.

Bah. He could deal with that in a minute – right now he was enjoying the motherliness of his mother's motherly hug.

* * *

 **Next up: Dr. Hill makes an important discovery.**


	4. Healing Discoveries (Epilogue)

**Welp… I didn't plan for the last chapter of this fic to randomly be in Mike's POV or this short, but here you go…**

* * *

Mike smacked the soda machine, swearing loudly. Really? After all the hell he'd been through, was it too much to ask to get a damn soda? He tried to glare at the infernal machine, but that hurt his still-swollen eye too much.

"Having trouble, Michael?"

Mike glanced over to see Josh's therapist approaching him. Huh. Imagine that – he had finally left Josh's room. Mike wondered if Em and Matt had left or if they were still with Josh.

"Just this piece of shi– _crap_." Mike gave the soda machine an angry kick, forgetting that his toes were still sensitive from all the cold they'd been exposed to during the Night From Hell.

"Did that help?" Hill questioned in a mild and pleasant voice.

"Yes."

"Did that hurt?"

"… _Yes,_ " Mike hissed hobbling over to one of the chairs was opposite the vending machines. "Dammit."

Hill inserted one of whatever those Canadian dollar-things were called into the food machine and got a package of pretzels before taking the seat next to him. Mike debated whether or not to point out that the expiration date on the package was over two years ago, but decided against it when his toe twinged painfully at him.

For about two full minutes, the only sound between them was Hill's pretzel munching.

"So, Josh seems to be doing a lot better already," Mike blurted out when the silence grew too thick. He'd never realized how much he hated silence until that frickin' sanatorium. He'd talked to himself way more times than he cared to admit that night.

"Oh?" Hill glanced over at him, a fine grey eyebrow arched.

"I mean, compared to how he was that other night…" Mike had already told the police everything, but somehow he doubted they'd passed that information along to Hill. Actually, Mike wasn't even sure if that was legal, in Canada or the U.S. "When Sam and I found him, he was…" Mike let out puff of air. "He was totally out of it. Couldn't even tell we were there."

"Completely unresponsive? Nearly catatonic?" Hill questioned, his possibly-poisonous pretzels forgotten.

"No, not like that. Like… like he was in another world, man. He was just… standing in the middle of the mine, yelling at whatever he was seeing." More like _whomever,_ but Mike couldn't bring himself to say anything that might lead the conversation in the direction of Hannah and Beth.

Hill didn't say anything, but his brow was furrowed in deep concentration.

"What?" Mike asked.

"I'm not certain yet, but you may have just confirmed something I've been suspecting for a while." With that, Hill stood and headed back towards Josh's room.

"Um… okay. You're welcome?" Mike muttered, confused.

What was that about?

* * *

Not too much later, Mike found himself nursing his toe in the same chair but next to Sam and Chris. They were the only ones left in Canada now. Just them and Josh. And apparently Josh's parents, but Mike couldn't say when they'd shown up. Sometime not long after Hill had kicked them out of Josh's room, probably.

" _What the hell do you mean 'misdiagnosed?"_ '

…Speaking of Mr. Washington, Mike had forgotten how loud his voice could get. Sam's head snapped up from her magazine, and Chris jerked awake from his doze.

" _How much have we paid you assholes over the last nine years?_ "

Chris sat up in his chair. "Did he just say _misdiagnosed?_ "

"Did he just say _nine years?_ " Mike demanded. _Damn._ That meant… Josh had been needing help since he was eleven?

Whatever Hill said in reply, it was too low for them to hear, but Mr. Washington suddenly slammed through the door and stormed out of Josh's room.

A few seconds later, Mrs. Washington ran after him. "Bob!"

The three teens exchanged awkward glances.

There was a calm pause that lasted all of three seconds before, " _I knew it! I told you my meds never helped!_ "

Chris glanced towards Josh's room, then in the direction Mr. and Mrs. Washington had gone, and then back towards Josh's room again. "Do you think we should, like… do something?"

"Such as?" Mike asked. Really, what could _they_ do? And why was Sam smiling? "Sam? What is it?"

She shook her head, still smiling. "He was on the wrong meds… Don't you get it? That means they can get him the right ones now. He can get better."

"You're right." Chris' eyes lit up too. "No wonder he was so out of it!"

Maybe they were right. That would explain a lot. Whatever Josh's condition was, he'd never actually been getting help for.

But maybe now he could. Maybe something good could come from this after all.

* * *

 **Well, guys, that's it for this story! See you at the next sequel!**

 **Next (and probably last) in the series: One Bell of a Night.**

 **Otherwise known as Sam and Josh attempting to have a normal date after all this. Yeeaaaah. Like that's gonna happen. XD**

 **May take me a bit to get this done, though.**


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